You know your legendary backpacking recipe? The one the guys in your troop have been requesting on every trip for the past decade?

It’s about to become even more famous.

Tim and Christine Conners, authors of The Scout’s Outdoor Cookbook, are asking Scouts and Scouters to submit backpacking recipes for a new set of cookbooks they’re writing for the Boy Scouts of America and Falcon Publishing.

The authors are working on three new editions: Dutch Oven Cooking, Large Group Camping, and Backpacking.

The collections of recipes come from Scouts and Scouters’ submissions and from the Conners’ own outdoor cooking expertise.

They’re Scouters, too. Tim is an assistant Scoutmaster with Troop 340 in Georgia’s Coastal Empire Council, and Christine serves as a merit badge counselor for the troop.

Format: In a suitable outdoor area, assemble the cooks in patrols of eight (8). Have demonstration fires already going and shish-kabob and trussed-up hamburger on a stick cooking. Demonstrator gives talk on each method of cooking. Cooks then pick up their supplies, pick a cooking area, cook their lunch, eat it, and clean up.

Onion Cups
Slice onion in half, top to bottom with the grain. Slice off places where roots and stem join onion. Carefully dig out center part of onion, using natural cleavage planes of onion. Dice this for hamburger. Make onion cup out of outermost 2 or 3 planes. Save in-between planes for shish-kabob.

Hamburger l’ Orange
Mix diced onion in hamburger meat. Make small opening in one corner of corn flakes box and crush it with your boot. Pour crushed corn flakes on hamburger meat and mix in. (A small can of Ortega green chiles may be added if desired). Add a modest amount of salt. When meat is thoroughly mixed, make a meat ball the size of a large golf ball and pack in orange half. Place in coals to bake. Demonstrate rescue stick (when done).

Hamburger l’ Onion
Place mixed meatball (as above) in onion cup and place in fire to bake.

Hamburger a la Stick
Place meat on a stick with 3 or 4 branch stubs to help keep meat from twisting.
Tie in place with 3 long pieces of grass or thin bark strips – one longitudinal and two around circumference.

Hamburger a la Rock
With shovel remove flat rock from fire and place at edge to stay hot. Make hamburger patty and place on rock after dusting with paper towel. Demonstrate use of spatula stick and rescue stick to turn patty.

Hamburger a la Leaf
Place hamburger patty on sweet leaves (oak) and place directly on fire. When ready to turn, put fresh leaves on top and turn over on coals. When done, brush off leaves before eating.

Shish-Kabob
Place alternately on a stick, pieces of stew meat and pieces of onion. Place loaded stick across 2 “Y” forked sticks over fire or prop up with rocks at an angle. Rotate periodically until done. If you place the pieces close together, they will be less well done than if placed further apart.

Tarzan Steak
Drop pieces of stew meat in late coals (or early ashes) of a wood fire. After about 5 minutes search through the fire with the rescue stick, pick out the pieces, knock the ashes off, and eat.

Heating Water
Tear handles off paper cups and fill with water. Place at edge of fire to heat. Cup will not burn when full of water, and can be reused several times. Use for soup, coffee, tea or hot chocolate.

Beverages
When opening packaged beverage powders, save the top strip you tear off, Fold it several times and it can be used as a stirrer. Save the bottom part of foil-lined packets for cocking biscuits in.

Biscuits
Place Bisquick box near fire to warm. Open the box of Biscuick on one of the large flat rocks. Poke one finger in Bisquick to make a hole, Fill the hole with water (preferably warm). Stir with twister stick until the dough starts turning the opposite direction. Butter a hot rock. Place blob of dough on a flat rock to bake. Place a blob of butter on top of done side after you turn it the first time.

Twist
Mix Bisquick with water to consistency of paste. Use stick about 2 feet long and 2-3 inches thick with bark shaved off and several vertical grooves. Pre-heat the stick and cool with a few sprinkles of water. Apply Bisquick paste in the form of a spiral and a cap on the top end. Prop up with rocks at a near vertical angle to bake. Rotate stick occasionally. The secret to keeping it on the stick is a properly prepared stick. Do not butter the stick.

French Fried Onion Rings
Slice one onion horizontally and separate into onion rings. Make a thin watery batter with Bisquick in water in a cup. Drop onion rings in batter. Grease a hot rock with butter. Fry the onion rings on the hot rock.

Baked Apple
Slice top 1/4 off the apple. Hollow out the core and seeds. Place orange sections and a little sugar in the core hold. Replace top of apple. Dig small hole or trench and place adequate charcoal in the bottom. Place sweet leaves (oak) on top of coals and apple on leaves. Cook until inside is soft. Be careful eating – it’s hot!

Clean-up: When done, cooking, build up fire and burn all burnable trash. Put fire dead out, preferably with water. Carry out all nonburnable items, including foil packages. Pick up the area so it is clean

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Bryan on Scouting is the official blog of Scouting magazine, a Boy Scouts of America publication. Scouting magazine is published five times a year and is received by 1 million registered adult volunteers.